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Indonesian War (IOT14)
The Indonesian War (2112–2113) was a conflict fought primarily by the Empire of Thailand against Feminist Indonesia in ostensible support of the republican government deposed in the 2108 civil war. Thailand's imposition of a naval blockade sparked an international crisis over BulkProd exports, prompting the Knights of Malta to join the war against Indonesia, and France and Britain to intervene on Yogyakarta's behalf. By the summer of 2113, the foreign coalition had forced a stalemate and Thailand conceded to peace. Although all parties agreed to withdraw, confusion over demobilization led the rebel government to declare independence immediately following, threatening the reignite the war. Background Indonesia was Thailand's first and arguably closest international partner, having negotiated a bilateral economic treaty in 2107 and permitted Bangkok's entry into the ballistic missile shield programme. Following Reus's instructions, in 2108 a civil war installed a feminist government in the French model. In the fall of 2112, Thailand instituted an embargo and froze Indonesian assets, demanding the reinstatement of gender equality and threatening more severe measures if Yogyakarta did not comply. Later that same season, the Thai military began mobilization. Thai blockade and food crisis Without waiting for a response by the Indonesian government, Thailand commenced aggressive action, instigating a naval blockade and launching airstrikes against military targets and utility infrastructure. The following season Bangkok issued an ultimatum demanding the surrender of the Indonesian government and submission to prosecution for crimes against humanity. Yogyakarta retaliated by suspending food exports to all countries but France; facing imminent starvation, Malta declared war on Indonesia. The African Federation rescinded its sanctions against Bangkok and mused deploying an expedition of its own, but this was soon dropped over lack of confidence in Thailand's purported humanitarian auspices. Omega124 resumed the game toward the end of the turn and the French government, calling the food embargo an "overreaction","Interview with Jeannette Hiver", Agence France-Presse, 19 February 2113 attempted to restart diplomatic talks, but was ignored by Thailand and Malta. Northern occupation and Anglo-French intervention At the start of 2113, Thai ground forces began landings in northern Indonesia to secure strategic targets, chiefly BulkProd facilities. True to international fears, however, Yogyakarta had begun to scorch earth and captured plants were unusable. Shinawatra announced full mobilization and the doubling of Thailand's standing army in preparation for full-scale invasion; he also declared the establishment of an Indonesian Republic in occupied territory in direct contravention of his 2112 pledge that Indonesia's territorial integrity would be maintained. Shortly afterward, France issued an ultimatum demanding the immediate withdrawal of Thai forces from Indonesia; Bangkok rejected the ultimatum and raised its mobilization target to 1.2 million combat troops. France dispatched an expedition in late Spring, but a skirmish with the Maltese navy forced a lengthy re-route during which time Thai and Maltese forces established a beachhead in eastern Java. The French expedition, supported by the new United Queendom of Great Britain, prevented further incursion, and following the assassination of the Indonesian government in an unclear sequence of events that summer, France and Britain declared they would serve as acting administration, promptly rescinding the food embargo against non-belligerents. While the attempted round-table peace conference broke down, France secured individual treaties with Malta and the Pan-American Union, which had joined the war on Malta's behalf following the Mediterranean Incident. Unwilling to face the Feminist coalition alone, Thailand agreed to wholesale withdrawal. In an attempt to foster regional stability, Laos reiterated the Vientiane Memorandum from the original peace conference, under which the belligerents would pledge to guarantee Indonesian neutrality and intervene against any state that jeopardized it. Despite all parties' assumptions that Thai withdrawal meant the republican government had surrendered, by Fall 2113 Indonesia remained divided. Both France and Britain insisted that until Yogyakarta's sovereignty was restored over the entire archipelago, the war had not officially ended. The Republic of Libya tried to negotiate a two-state solution, however France refused to compromise on Indonesian territorial integrity. Rationales for the war Chancellor Shinawatra advanced multiple and contradictory justifications for the invasion. The original and most reiterated was the gender equality case, which he repeatedly likened to Nazi anti-Semitism; this was undermined in 2113 after revelations of the Royal Harem provoked charges of moral hypocrisy. Shinawatra maintained that once the Feminist government was defeated, Thailand would organize "free and fair elections" to ensure a representative government.Yingjang Shinawatra, "The New Role of Thailand", 2112 Given that Thailand was an absolute monarchy, this provoked immediate skepticism, and in a 2113 interview on Middle Eastern television, Shinawatra derided Thailand's own pro-democracy protesters as "anarchists who threaten the stability and security of the nation"."Interview with the Thai chancellor" pt.1, Diplomatic Immunity, 2113 Later speeches delegated electoral oversight to the United Nations, seen by many as an attempt to legitimate the invasion post facto and/or Bangkok shirking responsibility for Indonesia's postwar recovery, particularly given that the UN had never been consulted at any stage of the mission. In the same interview, Shinawatra claimed the invasion sought to reinstate "free trade", despite no indication that Yogyakarta had annulled any of its previous commercial treaties prior to hostilities."Interview with the Thai chancellor" pt.2, Diplomatic Immunity, 2113 International reaction The Indonesian War proved disastrous to Thailand's foreign reputation. Shinawatra's conflicting explanations for the war, and the mission mandate's rapid escalation, eroded faith that the so-called police action was ever intended as anything less than a full-scale invasion. Critics charged that given Indonesia's post-revolutionary isolation, Bangkok, not Yogyakarta, was destabilizing the region, and in late 2112 the United Arab Republic, German Empire, African Federation, Indo-Persian Kingdom and Women's Republic of France enacted embargoes against Thailand. Rhodesian foreign minister Robert Hood likened Bangkok's impulsive belligerence and contempt for diplomatic solutions to the late Japanese Empire, and forewarned future conflicts if Thai aggression remained unchecked."Interview with Robert Hood", Around the World, 2112 Shinawatra claimed foreign opposition was conducted by "racists" out of "ignorance"."Chancellor Yingjang Shinawatra debunks 'UAR-AF Propaganda'", TV 7 News, 2112 The most polarizing issue at stake in the war was the food crisis: some countries believed the intervention a critical necessity, while others charged Thailand's brinkmanship was recklessly gambling the world's food supply, especially after Yogyakarta began sabotaging its facilities to keep them out of enemy hands. Bangkok claimed Indonesia's embargo and the ensuing danger of global mass starvation provided unequivocal moral sanction to its mission, but as the 2113 interview spelled out, Yogyakarta merely enshrined what Thailand's own naval blockade had unwittingly effected. Despite Bangkok's culpability in the crisis and failure to secure production centres in occupied territory, starting in 2113 NPC nations favoured the intervention, and Thailand was approved membership in the reconstituted United Nations in spite of unanimous player opposition. Although Thailand had begun the war under the auspice of neutralizing fourth-wave feminism in Asia, as the conflict worsened the gender war polarized both in Indonesia and abroad. Established matriarchal governments exploited Thai aggression to justify misandrist policies, while anti-feminist hate crimes intensified worldwide in the latter half of 2113. Notably, in late 2112 as the attacks began, the French government pardoned the ultra-radical politician Jeannette Hiver, who returned to Paris and the Presidency the following year. The only countries to explicitly and consistently endorse the war were Thailand's ally Malta and the PAU, the latter as an act of spite against its opponents in the Winter War. Commentary Several players protested Indonesia's performance in the war as uncharacteristically weak given its pre-timeskip reputation for advanced technology and ambitious military research. Omega124 also derided the food embargo as politically suicidal even for an extremist régime, suggesting it was a deliberate ploy to polarize international response. Players also charged that given Thailand's agrarian peasant economy and dubious domestic reforms, the country could not triple its armed forces in the time frame presented without suffering catastrophic blowback, especially in the midst of a food shortage. The fiercest controversy arose over Indonesia's continued partition following the Treaty of Java. Despite the republicans having lost immediate international backing, Robert Can't used ambiguities in the peace talks, specifically the lack of explicit instructions to the rebels, to rationalize a continued stand-off, arguing after the fact that having not been consulted during negotiations the Kalla government was not bound by the treaty. Omega and NinjaCow64, playing France and Britain respectively, were incensed that the entire peace plan risked collapse due to this interpretation, sparking a vicious argument on IOT Chat that led Robert to formally terminate the game 7 September. christos200 later admitted in post-game debriefing that the invasion was imperial from inception, undertaken to destroy Indonesia's economy and prevent it from regaining regional prominence. It was purportedly concocted as early as 2106, but shelved until after the timeskip due to Reus' competence. References Category:Wars in IOT14 Category:Indonesian War (IOT14)